Review of Vacation (2015) by Orlando O — 24 Nov 2015

Vacation may not have that witty humor like the original National Lampoonâ(TM)s Vacation film, while it tries to live up to it with a new cast and fun humor. â I never knew there was an original vacation. âRusty older son tells him. Rustyâ(TM)s response, âthis new vacation can stand on its own.â? Those brief moments in the movie which the humor somewhat makes fun of the concept of this film being a reboot to the original while keeping this as a sequel. The concept of Clark Griswoldâ(TM)s older son Rusty taking the reins of going on a long road trip with his family; sadly, this Vacation film can not stand on its own. There are times, when it did not feel like it had that same heart like the original.

The story follows Rusty (Ed Helms) and his wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) whom she is getting a little bored in their marriage. Rusty decides to do something different and plan a road trip to go to Wally World. His older awkward son James (Skyler Gisondo) and his second son Kevin (Steele Stebbins), all try to bond through this long family trip.

The idea of wanting to see another Vacation film had a huge hype, but this was nowhere as fun as the original. The Griswolds do go through a lot of uneventful situations, like the hot springs with a nasty surprise as they followed some strange guys suggestion about the area, meeting Rustyâ(TM)s sister Audrey (Leslie Mann) husband Stone (Chris Hemsworth) as he tries to sexually seduce Debbie on their visit, or going on a rafting guide with a suicidal instructor Chad (Charlie Day). Ed Helms and Christina Applegate were all decent in the film, watching Helmâ(TM)s performance is almost identical as watching him in The Hangover films. There is some fun cameoâ(TM)s of other actors that show up randomly, especially who is behind the wheel on the semi truck that has been stalking on the Griswolds.

The film does have a few laughs every now and then; it just did not have enough. It also does not have that depth of going back too nor being memorable. Sure, right after the credits roll, the jokes and humor in the movie would be completely forgotten. Vacation is a fair comedy film, it does have its share of humor, some fun moments; and an easy movie to forget once it ends.